Sunday, March 9, 2008

I Am Legend - Are you ready?

Just a friendly reminder that the next movie party, featuring the three authorized film adaptations of the book, is only two weeks away.

If you'd like the opportunity to read (or re-read) the book in anticipation of the event, and don't have a copy handy, please let me know and we'll hook you up.

The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price, was filmed in 1964. The closest adaptation of the book, while not truly faithful, was dreived from an original screenplay by Matheson himself. He was so upset with the changes that they made he applied his pen name, Logan Swanson, to the project. The version we'll be watching is in standard definition, anamorphic widescreen.

The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, was released in 1971. Heston was introduced to the novel by director Orson Welles on the set of Touch of Evil, and the film - a pet project of his - was his third dystopic science-fiction film (the others of course being Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green). The screenwriters took the source material very loosely, and created a film unique to it's time. We will watch the version recently released on HD-DVD (which makes it easier to spot the people and cars in the background of a deserted Los Angeles).

I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was as much inspired by The Omega Man as the novel itself. That said, of all the authorized adaptations, the film succeeds in capturing the tone of the original novel, if not the specific plot elements. And as I've noted below, this is even more true in the original ending which we'll be featuring, from the forthcoming Blu-Ray release.